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16 You will be saved from the loose woman,[a]
    from the adulteress[b] with her smooth words,(A)

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Footnotes

  1. 2.16 Heb strange woman
  2. 2.16 Heb alien woman

16 in order to deliver you from a strange woman,
    from a foreign woman who flatters[a] with her sayings,

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 2:16 Or “makes smooth”

For the lips of a loose woman[a] drip honey,
    and her speech is smoother than oil,(A)

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Footnotes

  1. 5.3 Heb strange woman

For the lips of the strange woman will drip honey,
    and smoother than oil is her mouth.[a]

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 5:3 Or “palate”

20 Why should you be intoxicated, my son, by another woman
    and embrace the bosom of an adulteress?[a](A)

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Footnotes

  1. 5.20 Heb alien woman

20 Why should you be intoxicated, my child, by a strange woman,
    and embrace the bosom of a foreigner?

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that they may keep you from the loose woman,[a]
    from the adulteress[b] with her smooth words.(A)

For at the window of my house
    I looked out through my lattice,
and I saw among the simple ones,
    I observed among the youths,
    a young man without sense,(B)
passing along the street near her corner,
    taking the road to her house(C)
in the twilight, in the evening,
    at the time of night and darkness.(D)

10 Then a woman comes toward him
    decked out like a prostitute, with hidden intent.
11 She is loud and wayward;
    her feet do not stay at home;(E)
12 now in the street, now in the squares,
    and at every corner she lies in wait.(F)
13 She seizes him and kisses him,
    and with impudent face she says to him:
14 “I had to offer sacrifices,
    and today I have paid my vows;(G)
15 so now I have come out to meet you,
    to seek you eagerly, and I have found you!
16 I have decked my couch with coverings,
    colored spreads of Egyptian linen;(H)
17 I have perfumed my bed with myrrh,
    aloes, and cinnamon.
18 Come, let us take our fill of love until morning;
    let us delight ourselves with love.
19 For my husband is not at home;
    he has gone on a long journey.
20 He took a bag of money with him;
    he will not come home until full moon.”

21 With much seductive speech she persuades him;
    with her smooth talk she compels him.(I)
22 Right away he follows her
    and goes like an ox to the slaughter
or bounds like a stag toward the trap[c]
23     until an arrow pierces its entrails.
He is like a bird rushing into a snare,
    not knowing that it will cost him his life.(J)

24 And now, my children, listen to me,
    and be attentive to the words of my mouth.(K)
25 Do not let your hearts turn aside to her ways;
    do not stray into her paths.(L)
26 For many are those she has laid low,
    and numerous are her victims.(M)
27 Her house is the way to Sheol,
    going down to the chambers of death.(N)

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Footnotes

  1. 7.5 Heb strange woman
  2. 7.5 Heb alien woman
  3. 7.22 Cn Compare Gk: Meaning of Heb uncertain

In order to guard yourself from an adulteress,[a]
    from the foreigner who makes her words smooth.[b]
For at the window of my house,
    through my lattice, I looked down.
And I saw among the simple,
    I observed among the youth,
    a young man lacking sense,[c]
passing on the street at[d] her corner,
    and he takes the road to her house,
at twilight, at the day’s evening,
    in the midst of night and the darkness.
10 Then behold! A woman comes to meet him
    with the garment of a prostitute[e] and a secret heart.[f]
11 She is loud and stubborn;
    her feet do not stay at her house.
12 Now in the street, now in the square,
    at[g] every corner she lies in wait.
13 She took hold of [h] him and kissed him.
    Her face was impudent, and she said to him,
14 “Sacrifices of peace offerings are upon me;
    today[i] I completed my vows.
15 So[j] I have come out to meet you,
    to seek your face, and I have found you.
16 With coverings I have adorned my couch,
    spreads of the linen of Egypt;
17 I have perfumed my bed with myrrh,
    aloes, and cinnamon.
18 Come, let us take our fill of love making,
    until the morning let us delight in love.
19 For there is no man[k] in his home;
    he has gone on a long journey.[l]
20 The bag of money he took in his hand,
    for on the day of the full moon he will come home.”
21 She persuades him with the greatness of her teachings;
    with her smooth lips she compels him.
22 He goes after her suddenly;
    like an ox to the slaughter he goes,
    and like a stag to the instruction of a fool,
23 until an arrow pierces his entrails,[m]
    like a bird rushing into a snare,
    but he does not know that it will cost him his life.[n]

Reiteration of the Warning Against a Strange Woman

24 And now, my children, listen to me,
    and be attentive to the sayings of my mouth.
25 May your heart not turn aside to her ways;
    do not stray into her path.
26 For many slain she has laid low,
    and countless[o] are all of her killings.
27 The ways of Sheol[p] are her house,
    descending to chambers of death.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 7:5 Literally “a strange woman”
  2. Proverbs 7:5 Literally “causes to be smooth her words”
  3. Proverbs 7:7 Literally “heart”
  4. Proverbs 7:8 Literally “at the place of”
  5. Proverbs 7:10 Or “whore”
  6. Proverbs 7:10 Literally “secret of heart”
  7. Proverbs 7:12 Literally “at the place of”
  8. Proverbs 7:13 Or “strengthened”
  9. Proverbs 7:14 Literally “the day”
  10. Proverbs 7:15 Hebrew “thus”
  11. Proverbs 7:19 Or “husband”
  12. Proverbs 7:19 Literally “a journey from far”
  13. Proverbs 7:23 Literally “heaviness,” often referring to the liver
  14. Proverbs 7:23 Literally “it is against his life”
  15. Proverbs 7:26 Or “strong men”
  16. Proverbs 7:27 A term for the place where the dead reside, i.e., the Underworld

14 The mouth of a loose woman[a] is a deep pit;
    he with whom the Lord is angry falls into it.

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Footnotes

  1. 22.14 Heb strange woman

14 A deep pit is the mouth of an adulteress,[a]
    he with whom Yahweh is angry will fall there.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 22:14 Literally “a strange woman”

26 My child, give me your heart,
    and let your eyes observe[a] my ways.(A)
27 For a prostitute is a deep pit;
    an adulteress[b] is a narrow well.(B)
28 She lies in wait like a robber
    and increases the number of the faithless.(C)

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Footnotes

  1. 23.26 Or delight in
  2. 23.27 Heb alien woman

26 My child, may you give your heart[a] to me,
    and may your eyes delight in my ways.
27 For a deep pit is a prostitute,[b]
    and a narrow well is an adulteress.[c]
28 She is also like a robber lying in wait,
    and the faithless among mankind she increases.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 23:26 Or “mind”
  2. Proverbs 23:27 Or “whore”
  3. Proverbs 23:27 Literally “a foreign woman”